Please Don't Go
by DracoPendragon
Summary: Jane has a nightmare, and Lisbon is there to comfort him when he wakes up. Rated T because the nightmare scene's sort of dark


**A/N: My first Mentalist fanfic, and I am quite proud of it.**

**Inspired (kinda) by 'Please Don't Go' by Barcelona. I was listening to it while I was writing, so**

**And also my lovely friend Charlotte, who I have to thank for getting me even more into the Mentalist than I already was.**

* * *

Patrick watched on as his wife and child as they sat together on the bed. He listened as Angela read Charlotte a story, stroking her hair gently. He kept an eye on their exchange for a while, smiling before he called them. They turned to find the source of the sound, and he felt fear and dread coil up in his stomach. His eyes were met by two sets of unblinking, deep-set one, the ones that he had seen when he first entered the room in which he knew his family lay dead.

Jane stumbled backwards, mouth fumbling to form words. 'I-I I'm sorry, I didn't mean for anything to happen to you, I-' He faltered, knowing words would do no good.

'You killed us,' said his wife and daughter in unison. He knew they were not lying. They rose from their places, and Jane watched as they moved towards him on limbs to which were attached strings. He followed the thin wires upwards, wanting to see who was controlling them. There in the endless sky above him were disconnected hands clinging on to the strings, and a smiley face, Red John's signature, wild and omnipresent. A cold chill settled in his bones, and a hand came to rest on his arm. Jane looked to find Angela standing before him with Charlotte, both grinning and observing him with their dead eyes.

'You killed us, Patrick,' cooed his wife gently as she pulled him closer to her cold body. 'If you hadn't insulted Red John, we would all be together. All of us would be happy.'

'No, no no no this isn't real. This can't be real.' Jane shook his head, trying to pull away from the arm holding him but dream Angela's grip was tight. He could slowly feel his arm numbing, and stopped his struggling.

'Who are you?' he called to the sky desperately, as though his question would be graced with an answer.

The blood-red smile widened, and a gargling sound echoed around him. _Laughing_, Jane thought. _He's mocking me._

'Fine then, don't give me answers,' Jane slumped, trying to act disinterested.

The laughing continued. Charlotte and Angela joined in and Jane flicked his eyes between them in fear. The noises built to a cacophonous climax in his eardrums, and Patrick wanted to scream, to cry out and make the nightmare end.

'We're going to kill you like you killed us, dad,' said Charlotte sweetly. There were tears welling up in his eyes that Jane tried vainly to fight back.

'Then we'll all be together again,' smiled Angela as she moved her hand from his arm to his cheek. 'I miss you, Patrick.'

'I miss you too.' The tears were flowing now, and a gentle hand moved to wipe them away.

'It's going to be okay,' his wife whispered into his ear and his daughter took his hand in hers.

Something hard hit his head and he keeled forward, turning to see where the blow had come from. Two more strikes came, this time from the two women who had moved behind him. He turned around, for what he did not know. To plead mercy, perhaps? To apologise to figments of a memory, who were not real and who could not provide him solace and comfort and closure?

His body began convulsing and his vision blurred. This was the end, he knew it. So why did he not feel scared? His family was with him, and he would be seeing them soon. He smiled at the thought of finally being reunited.

And then Patrick Jane woke up.

* * *

He was being shaken, and quiet violently so. A woman's voice, laced with evident worry was saying his name. 'Jane? Jane! Oh god. Jane, wake up. I need you to wake up.'

Groaning, the man who was being addressed opened his eyes. A very worried Lisbon swam before his face, and upon seeing that he was awake, the tight lines that worry had stretched into her face disappeared. 'What happened?' He was acutely aware of the fact that he was on the floor, and shivering, though not from cold. He sat up, and stars blinked in front of him.

'Hey, take it easy,' Lisbon held his back as he regained his balance. 'Your head's bleeding, and you might have a mild concussion. I think you hit the desk when you fell.'

Jane glanced over at the piece of furniture in question and scowled at it. Lisbon, however, wasn't fooled and she gently moved his head closer for inspection. 'You're bleeding, but it's nothing serious.'

'I have a first aid kit right over there.' He pointed lazily with a finger in the general location of the box, knowing that his work partner would want to fuss over him and make sure he was okay. 'I really am fine, Lisbon.' He hoped that the search for the medical kit would distract Lisbon long enough for him to carefully rebuild the walls into his mind that sleep had knocked down.

Having found the item in question, Lisbon kneeled in front of him and got out the things she needed to tend to his head wound. 'Sit still,' she commanded, and Jane complied quietly.

Jane let her clean his head wound without any fuss, knowing the faster he let her do this, the faster she would leave him in peace. He watched her as she did it, and smiled slightly.

'What?' she asked cautiously.

'Nothing, nothing.'

~•~•~•~

'There,' said Lisbon as she got up from her knees beside him. 'That should heal up in a few days, as long as you don't go getting yourself hit over the head again.'

'I'll try my hardest,' he promised her.

She rolled her eyes and asked him if he wanted some tea.

'Yes, please. The usual,' he asked.

'I'll be back in just a second,' she promised before leaving him alone in his room.

~•~•~•~

When Lisbon returned, Jane had been dangerously close to falling asleep again. She handed him his cup and he stirred the mixture in it from where he was perched on the edge of his bed, inhaling the comforting smell of the tea.

'Did anyone else hear me?' he asked nonchalantly, as was his way. His co-worker sat next to him, and the surface dipped slightly.

'No,' Lisbon replied truthfully. 'Everyone else has gone home, and any who haven't were too far away to hear you.'

'Good, good.' He paused before turning to look at her, confused. 'Why haven't you gone with everyone else?'

A shrug accompanied the response. 'I had case files to sort out, you know how it is.'

'You're not checking up on me, are you? Because I assure you I am completely fine.' He made a small gesture, mindful of the mug he was holding, as if to prove his point.

'I'm not checking up on you, I was just concerned about your health.'

'You were checking up on me,' Jane reiterated.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. 'I was not checking up on you. And anyway, if I hadn't, you could have damaged yourself much more.' Her voice quietened. 'You looked so scared. It must have been an awful dream to have you looking like that.'

Sudden memories of the nightmare that had hit him flooded his mind, and he started shaking again, nearly spilling the drink from his mug. Lisbon took it gently from his hands and set it to the side out of the way. She held Jane's hands until he had calmed down and his body had halted its convulsions. 'What was it?'

Unable to speak, Jane shook his head, and some of his hair fell before his face. A warm hand swept it away and came to rest on his cheek. They stayed looking at each other for a moment, Jane's expression guarded and Lisbon's concerned. Suddenly uncomfortable, Jane stood and moved away. He looked at the bed, judging the other's reaction; her hands were clasped on her lap, and she was looking down at them, cheeks red.

'Red John,' he sighed. 'I had a dream about Red John. Well, nightmare would be the correct word for it,' he considered absentmindedly.

'Oh Patrick,' Lisbon sighed. She looked up at him. 'Are you okay?'

'Fine, I'm completely fine. Why wouldn't I be?' His usual method for dealing with such situations was to brush it off like it was nothing, which didn't seem to work this time.

'Don't say this is nothing, because it's not. Why didn't you tell me before, we could have helped you, I could have helped you!' she said loudly.

'No one can help me,' Jane said quietly. He picked up the mug from where Lisbon had set it and took a long drink.

'You seem fine now, so I'll just leave you to whatever it is you do up here.' She looked at him firmly before moving to get up.

'No!' She turned to look at him in confusion, and he lowered his voice to its normal tone. 'Please don't go.'

She walked towards him warily, as though wondering what he was up to. 'Jane?'

'Lisbon don't leave me. I don't want to fall asleep again,' he explained, voice almost pleading.

'Okay. Okay that's fine. I'll stay with you,' she replied, nodding slowly to emphasise her point.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Jane moved back to sit on the edge of the bed and waited to be joined by the other.

* * *

They talked until midnight about small things, things that were completely irrelevant to either of them, until Lisbon noted the time. 'Oh wow, is that the time?'

'I would assume so, unless someone fiddled with my clocks while I was out of it,' Jane said.

Lisbon rolled her eyes and removed herself from where she was laid on the bed in the warm embrace of her friend's arms. 'I have to go, we have an early start on a case tomorrow- today,' she corrected herself. She turned to look at Jane, who had risen so he was sat up, legs swinging on the edge of his seat. 'Will you be okay?'

'I'll be fine,' Jane assured her, sounding more sure than he felt.

With one last look over him, Lisbon seemed confident that he would be okay without her company and exited the room.

Jane sat on the bed for a second longer, debating what he should do. Finally, he got up and went to catch up to her.

~•~•~•~

'Lisbon!' he called down the corridor. She stopped upon hearing her name and turned around to meet him.

'Jane? What is it?' she asked, worry obvious on her face.

Instead of giving her a worded answer, Jane placed his lips gently against hers. His hands held onto her arms, as though he was sinking and she was the only thing that could save him. They stayed like that, still and unmoving for a few, sweet seconds before pulling away.

'Thank you,' he said sincerely. She rolled her eyes. 'I mean it. Thank you, Lisbon. For everything.'

'You're welcome, Jane,' she smiled. 'Unfortunately, I have to go now,' she said, eyes glancing at the clock near them.

'No, of course. You go,' he said as he removed his hands and let them drop down by his sides.

She turned to leave and took a few steps before changing her mind and turning back around. 'Do you want to come with me?' she asked, almost hesitantly.

Jane positively beamed at her. 'I'd love to,' he admitted. 'Let me just fetch my jacket.'

* * *

**A/N: Let me know what you think, and thank you very much for reading!**


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